Design And Fabrication Of Cross Flow Turbine Runner For Pico Power Generation

 ABSTRACT

This paper describes the procedure for design and fabrication of a pico-hydro turbine. Small amount of energy saved contribute towards saving the environment. The idea is to get electrical energy from water flowing in pipelines of a building from overhead tank to the taps in homes. A building of three floors is considered for the study. The water flowing in the pipe has sufficient amount of energy to rotate a pico- hydro turbine. The energy is extracted from a dc generator coupled to the rotor of the turbine. The fabrication of the turbine is done using the 3D printing technology which uses fuse deposition modelling technique. Head and flow rate between this range can generate 1kW to 5kW of power, known as Pico hydro power generation. In this paper a cross flow turbine is designed which works for head range 2 m to 12 m and flow rate 10 l/s to 20 l/s. The dimensions of cross flow turbine are diameter 83 mm, length of runner 60 mm and number of blades are 18. Fabrication of turbine is suggested with locally available material, man power and techniques. Test setup for the turbine includes water pump, pipes, valves, water tank, pressure gauge, bypass valve etc. Cross flow turbine designed and fabricated by this process will encourage the use of micro hydro turbine technology for Pico hydro power generation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER PAGE

TITLE PAGE

APPROVAL PAGE

DEDICATION

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER ONE

• INTRODUCTION
• BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT
• PROBLEM STATEMENT
• AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
• JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
• SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
• PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
• SCOPE OF THE STUDY
• METHODOLOGY
• PROJECT ORGANIZATION

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

• LITERATURE REVIEW
• OVERVIEW OF CROSS-FLOW TURBINE
• OVERVIEW OF TURBINES FOR SMALL HYDRO POWER PLANTS
• CHARACTERISTICS OF RURAL ELECTRICITY MARKET
• CLASSIFICATION OF HYDRO POWER PLANT
• CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF CROSS-FLOW TURBINE

CHAPTER THREE

METHODOLOGY

• INTRODUCTION
• CONSTRUCTION AND WORKING OF PICO HYDRO TURBINE
• WORKING PRINCIPLE
• MATERIAL SELECTION
• ANALYSIS OF ROTOR STATIC ANALYSIS
• DESIGN OF CROSS FLOW TURBINE
• CASING AND FINISHES

 CHAPTER FOUR

• TEST SET UP
• RESULTS AND ANALYSIS
• LIMITATIONS

CHAPTER FIVE

• CONCLUSION
• RECOMMENDATION
• REFERENCES

CHAPTER ONE

1.0                                          INTRODUCTION

1.1                            BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

It has been found that over last few decades that there has been a growing realization in many developing countries like Nigeria that small hydropower schemes have a very important role to play in economic development of the rural population through electrification programs. Small hydropower schemes can provide power for industrial, agricultural and domestic uses through direct mechanical power or coupling of turbine generator.

Small scale hydro power potential sites are normally situated in remote isolated areas, with their development expected to serve as an engine towards economical and social development of the remote/local Nigerian communities which are mostly supplied with power by isolated diesel stations.

Operation of diesel stations in the remote isolated systems depends on the fuel which is a cost to the national economy. This fact opens a challenge to develop small hydro power to supply cheap and environmentally friendly electricity to the isolated communities.

The government underscores the advantages of investing in hydro electricity generation for those sites which have been evaluated and proved to be viable. Following the recent/on-going reforms of the power sector (trade liberalization, opening doors to private investors, privatization of public utilities, etc) it is anticipated that private firms will also increase their interest to invest in hydro- electricity generation.

Hydro power is a very clean source of energy and only uses the water, the water after generating electrical power, is available for other purposes. Due to this reason, hydropower plants become more and more importance. These are few types of hydropower plant which depends on the size.

Cross flow turbine is better option for hilly areas to generate electricity. Cross flow turbine consists of two discs which are used to hold the blades and shaft. Disc have groves to place the turbine blades at appropriate position so that water can make exact attack angle to rotate the runner at desired rpm. Shaft is used to give support to the runner and also used to couple the runner with the generator.

Cross flow turbine plays important role in renewable energy power generation by hydro energy and is capable of using in a Pico hydro power generation plants which is the aim of this work, because of its low installation, operational and maintenance cost. It is reliable turbine for electrification in a rural area, agricultural fields and also to the military camps which are situated in rural mountains.

1.2                                                  PROBLEM STATEMENT

It is because of the inaccessibility of electricity in remote areas and well as the high energy consumption of power in commercial and residential areas. Water flowing through commercial and residential buildings was discovered has sufficient potential energy to generate power, which is being wasted flowing through pipes.

1.3                            JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

Development of small hydropower plants in Nigeria is facing a number of obstacles as stated above, not only because of the unfavorable conditions but also in adequate knowledge and technology to exploit the potential sites. So far there is no workable technology developed locally that has a scope of cost reduction and self reliance.

Preliminary survey carried out in the country shows that most of the hydropower mechanical equipments are imported from various countries in Europe and Asia (Kassana, 2006).The above equipments are expensive and lack support services in terms of spare parts and maintenance. Thus, the need for development of small hydro-turbines using locally available resources has been identified, in order to make a break-through in solving the scarcity of appropriate form of energy to rural communities.

1.4                          SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significances of this research project are and not limited to:

1. The technology will be beneficial to local manufacturing industries and will thus ensure availability of the turbines locally at low cost and will further, ensure the support services in terms of spare parts and maintenance. It will also stimulate productive activities through the provision of affordable and sustainable
2. The results of the research will ensure availability of a Prototype and documented procedures for designing, fabricating and testing of cross flow hydro turbine in

• The research establishes economic viability of fabrication of the turbine in Nigeria

1. It provides information to various stakeholders and contributes knowledge to hydro power research.

According to Patel S.U.and Pakale Prashant. N., advantages of cross flow turbine with respect to other turbines to show its importance in small power generation units, which are given below [2]:

• Current is not necessary to start the
  • Cross flow turbine has capability of efficiency continuation for long period
  • Cavitation loss is absent in cross flow turbine.
  • Simple lubrication system is enough, as no thrust bearing is
  • Requirement of routine maintenance and needs very
  • Have lesser moving
  • Cleaning of cross flow will held continuously with centrifugal force acted on it.

1.5                                  PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this project is to develop a low power cross flow hydro turbine which can be fabricated locally using available expertise, materials and technology at a reasonable cost affordable by the rural community.

1.6                                 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This project aims on design and fabrication of a Pico hydro turbine for extraction of electrical energy from the water flowing in the pipelines from the overhead tanks.

The specific objectives of the research project are:

1. Designing a cross flow hydro turbine which can suit local manufacturing capability and water resource availability;
2. Manufacturing of a cross flow turbine prototype for pico power generation;

• Documenting manufacturing technology and testing procedures of the designed turbine according to locally available resources; and

1. Establishing economic viability for manufacturing the hydro turbine

1.7                                 SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

This work deals with small-scale hydro turbines and their applications at power production environment while focusing on the application of cross-flow turbine for pico hydro set-up, a run-of-river scheme which does not require dam or reservoir for water storage. The main criteria of the turbine are set to be cost effective, reliable, and environmentally friendly, which can be manufactured locally and capable of operating at wide range of flow rate. A cross-flow turbine has been considered, designed and fabricated in this work.

1.8                                         METHODOLOGY

To achieve the aim and objectives of this work, the following are the steps involved:

1. Study of the previous work on the project so as to improve it efficiency.
2. Draw a diagram using 3D.

• Test for continuity of components and devices,

1. Design and calculation for the work was carried out.
2. Studying of various materials used.
3. Fabrication was carried out.

• Finally, the whole device was cased and final test was carried out.

1.9                                                         PROJECT ORGANIZATION

The work is organized as follows: chapter one discuses the introductory part of the work,   chapter two presents the literature review of the study,  chapter three describes the methods applied, chapter four discusses the results of the work, chapter five summarizes the research outcomes and the recommendations.